Superiors meet at FRH; deliberate on province priorities

On : 2023-07-18

Superiors of Karnataka province met at Fathima Retreat House, Mangalore for a two-day deliberation on July 15-16. It was the first meetings of the superiors for the new academic year. The theme of the two-day meeting was ‘Building mission driven teams/communities’.

The first day began with an input session on the theme by Provincial Fr Dionysius Vaz. He said that Jesuit communities must be countercultural. “Solidarity, servanthood and obedience define our life together. While we work for the poor, it is also important to work with the poor,” he said.

Fr Vaz further spoke of the various stages of community groups such as orientation, inclusion, control, conflict, cohesion, faith sharing, intimacy and termination. “It is important to see where each member of the community stands with regard to these stages,” he added.

Later in the day, Fr Walter Fernandes SJ from Kohima region gave an input on the ethnic conflict in Manipur. He said that the conflict in Manipur which began as an ethnic conflict has been turned into a communal conflict by vested interests.

Fr Jossie D’Mello, socius, who attended the Procurators’ Meeting in Loyola, Spain, made a presentation on the proceedings. He said that the whole conference was process driven.

On the second day, Fr Swebert D’Silva, Rector of Arrupe Nivas, made a presentation on the developments in St Joseph’s University. He said that a new campus would be developed in the Mount St Joseph property where 30 acres of land has been earmarked for the university.

Fr Melwin Pinto, Rector of St Aloysius College, made a presentation on the status of St Aloysius Deemed-to-be University (SADU). He said that though the process has been delayed, the application has not been rejected. He strongly felt God’s hand at every stage, he said.

There were also deliberations on the Province priorities for the year. As many as eight priorities have been enlisted to align with the UAPs and KPAPs to concretely work during the course of the year.